Abstract
Forest fires in Galicia have become a serious environmental problem over the years. This is especially the case in the Pontevedra region, where in October 2017 large fires (>500 hectares) burned more than 15,000 Ha. In addition to the area burned being of relevance, it is also very important to know quickly and accurately the different severity degrees that soil has suffered in order to carry out an optimal restoration campaign. In this sense, the use of remote sensing with the Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 satellites becomes a very useful resource due to the variations that appear in soil after a forest fire (changes in soil cover are noticeably appreciated with spectral information). To calculate these variations, the spectral indices NBR (Normalized Burn Ratio) and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) are used, both before and after the fire and their differences (dNBR and dNDVI, respectively). In addition, as a reference for a correct discrimination between severity degrees, severity data measured in situ after the fire are used to classified at 5 levels of severity and 6 levels of severity. Therefore, this study aims to establish a methodology, which relates remote-sensing data (spectral indices) and severity degrees measured in situ. The R2 statistic and the pixel classification accuracy results show the existing synergy of the Sentinel-2 dNBR index with the 5 severity degrees classification (R2 = 0.74 and 81% of global accuracy) and, for this case, the good applicability of remote sensing in the forest fire field.
Highlights
IntroductionForest fires are one of the most important problems in countries of southern Europe such as
Forest fires are one of the most important problems in countries of southern Europe such asSpain [1]
The use of a statistical analysis based on a potential regression is due to the low linear relationship
Summary
Forest fires are one of the most important problems in countries of southern Europe such as. In this geographic area, summers are increasingly hot and dry, causing a significant increase in area affected by fires [2]. Summers are increasingly hot and dry, causing a significant increase in area affected by fires [2] These kinds of fires are the cause of environmental and economic losses [3,4,5]. These phenomena are actively involved in greenhouse effect (CO2 emission) and climate change [6]
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